|
 |
|
The Son
(Le Fils)
***
Cinema
Reviews - Week of May 2, 2003
Rated on a 4-star scale. Certificate 12A. France.
103 minutes. Written and directed by Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne.
Starring Olivier Gourmet, Morgan Marinne, Isabella Soupart, Rémy Renaud,
Nassim Hassaïni, Kevin Leroy, Félicien Pitsaer, Annette
Closset.
Olivier Gourmet is the star of "The
Son", and it has been thrown about jokingly that he is expected to
carry the film with the back of his head. The camera is handheld and close-up,
and yes, it follows the main character from behind for long stretches, especially
in the first act. But the remarkable thing about Gourmet's performance, which
I didn't fully realise until thinking about it afterward, is that he really
does manage to communicate from places like the back of his head. The way
his hands hang, his walk waddles and yet seems firm, the way he breathes
and makes little gestures -- all this accumulates to give a picture of how
a man feels inside.
He plays a carpenter, also named Olivier, who
works in a vocational training centre for kids getting out of reform school.
The movie shows him in command; he is firm with students, but in the sort
of way that's not so much bossy as respectfully dedicated to applying the
group to the tasks at hand. He goes about his business professionally, keeps
on top of the issues he is expected to, and has been at his work for so many
years that he can judge the length of any space, right down to the centimetre,
just by looking at it.
But even before characters come in to give dialogue
that will let us in on the backstory, we sense that this guy has sadness.
There is something weary about him, something deeper than tiredness. He has
a lot of answerphone messages, but seems to be socially lonely. He doesn't
speak much, but appears to have grown into emotional detachment rather than
being one of those people for whom it comes naturally. We don't know any
of this for sure, but it can be felt.
Olivier's ex-wife (Isabella Soupart) comes onto
the scene. We learn from her dialogue that she's pregnant with her new husband,
and that she and Olivier had a son who was murdered. Another new character
is Francis (Morgan Marinne), a sixteen-year old kid new to the centre. He
wants to learn carpentry. He becomes one of Olivier's pupils. And he is the
one who killed the son.
The movie revolves around Gourmet's performance
like a fascinated stare, in awe of the intensity of the situation and waiting
for the pin to drop. Olivier knows who Francis is, but the kid doesn't recognise
his instructor. They end up spending time together; the boy is looking for
a guardian, and Olivier's mind must be so running with thoughts that he ends
up speaking to the boy as if he isn't there, unable to either deal with him
normally or tell him the score. "The Son" doesn't take any fancy twists,
or turn into a revenge drama, and it doesn't even totally become a story
of bonding or redemption. It's a meditation on sadness and loss, made poignant
by how Olivier can stand to be around the person who ruined his life, and
have a genuine desire to get on with his job, to do some good by teaching
another troubled child a useful profession for the world.
I've read reviews of the film that seem convinced
it holds things from us, or sets up misleading expectations. According to
Roger Ebert, "You expect, because you have been trained by formula films,
an accident or an act of violence." Jeremy Heilman not only agrees but seems
indignant at the technique, and says, "The directors attempt to stir up suspense
in the situation by withholding crucial information from us. Since [Olivier
is] shot from behind with a handheld camera as he's spying and lurking, it's
difficult not to have a negative appraisal of his character by the time the
Big Revelation is exposed. Everything seems calculated so that the filmmakers
can scorn us for jumping to conclusions about the behaviour of people of
a certain class and vocation."
These guys make "The Son" sound like the old Guardian
advert where one shot made us think that a skinhead was about to mug a man
in a suit, and the next angle revealed he was pushing him over to save him
from a pile of falling bricks. That's not what I saw. We get the details
of the situation about twenty minutes into the film -- the camera style is
a little obscure, and the pacing doesn't reveal everything at the top, but
I wouldn't exactly call it slow or difficult for an art movie. "The Son"
is honest, quietly absorbing and powerful.
COPYRIGHT©
2003 Ian Waldron-Mantgani
2003 Reviews
(alphabetical)
2003 Reviews (by star
rating)
Archive of all cinema reviews
(alphabetical)
Review Archive
Index
UK
Critic main page
|
|
![[Image]](http://www.ukcritic.com/posbanr2.gif)